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People v. O'Callaghan

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 4, 1991
171 A.D.2d 706 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

March 4, 1991

Appeal from the County Court, Westchester County (LaCava, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's challenge to the adequacy of her plea allocution is without merit. The defendant's factual recitation and the plea colloquy were sufficient to make out all the elements of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. Nothing in the allocution or colloquy cast significant doubt upon either her guilt or the voluntariness of the plea so as to require further inquiry by the court (see, People v Lopez, 71 N.Y.2d 662, 666; cf., People v Moore, 71 N.Y.2d 1002, 1005).

It is also well settled that the decision whether to permit a defendant to withdraw a previously entered plea of guilty rests within the sound discretion of the court (see, People v Hagzan, 155 A.D.2d 616; People v Gomez, 142 A.D.2d 649). In the instant case, the court held a hearing on the defendant's claim that she was coerced into pleading guilty by her attorney, who testified at the hearing and whose testimony the court credited. Issues of credibility are primarily for the hearing court and its findings should be upheld unless they are clearly erroneous (see, People v Armstead, 98 A.D.2d 726). Bracken, J.P., Kooper, Lawrence, Balletta and O'Brien, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. O'Callaghan

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 4, 1991
171 A.D.2d 706 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

People v. O'Callaghan

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. STEPHANIE O'CALLAGHAN…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 4, 1991

Citations

171 A.D.2d 706 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

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